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A review by the_aesthete_nerd
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Hamnet makes you think why you are doing this to yourself while you are reading it and falling apart, one line at a time. And once you finish reading, you have this overwhelming urge to share it with the entire world.
Hamnet is the story of Agnes Hathaway, her children Susana, Judith, Hamnet and their absentee father, William Shakespeare. But the Bard here is only an accessory to Agnes' life and her trials and tribulations. It's about how the Bubonic Plague tore apart families, how when the statistics record thousands of death, we forget that a single death can disrupt lives, scar and change people for a lifetime. It's about struggling and coping with loss. It's about how the greatest play ever written can be the residue of a father's grief and guilt.
Maggie O'Farrell's writing is haunting, devastating and at times it's such a raw, intimate portrayal of relationships, that it almost feels vulgar to invade their pure, private space. She will rip you apart, make you feel feelings you thought you never had and bring tears, which were long silenced by depression medications. She is a magician of words and with this one it seems, she wields her wand with the sole purpose of devastating you. I love how she renders the Bard powerless here by not naming him once, by ripping him of his identity and portraying him as just a son, a husband and a father. I love how Agnes and her children take the stage here and show us that regular faces, not recorded or remembered in history are as much part of the building blocks of the human experience as the ones that stands the test of time. That William Shakespeare could have been just a mediocre glove-maker, had it not been for Agnes and their children. That the greatness of love, loss and grief transcends the boundaries of time.
Having said that this is not a light read, looking at the very cover of the book is making me feel traumatized now. It should come with trigger warnings in BOLD letters: grief, abandonment, loss of child.
It's no doubt a 5 star read, if only you have the stomach for it.
Hamnet is the story of Agnes Hathaway, her children Susana, Judith, Hamnet and their absentee father, William Shakespeare. But the Bard here is only an accessory to Agnes' life and her trials and tribulations. It's about how the Bubonic Plague tore apart families, how when the statistics record thousands of death, we forget that a single death can disrupt lives, scar and change people for a lifetime. It's about struggling and coping with loss. It's about how the greatest play ever written can be the residue of a father's grief and guilt.
Maggie O'Farrell's writing is haunting, devastating and at times it's such a raw, intimate portrayal of relationships, that it almost feels vulgar to invade their pure, private space. She will rip you apart, make you feel feelings you thought you never had and bring tears, which were long silenced by depression medications. She is a magician of words and with this one it seems, she wields her wand with the sole purpose of devastating you. I love how she renders the Bard powerless here by not naming him once, by ripping him of his identity and portraying him as just a son, a husband and a father. I love how Agnes and her children take the stage here and show us that regular faces, not recorded or remembered in history are as much part of the building blocks of the human experience as the ones that stands the test of time. That William Shakespeare could have been just a mediocre glove-maker, had it not been for Agnes and their children. That the greatness of love, loss and grief transcends the boundaries of time.
Having said that this is not a light read, looking at the very cover of the book is making me feel traumatized now. It should come with trigger warnings in BOLD letters: grief, abandonment, loss of child.
It's no doubt a 5 star read, if only you have the stomach for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Child death
Moderate: Mental illness and Pandemic/Epidemic